Snowwwwww! DH just took the big kids out in it - DD is asleep. I am trying to get some work done, but our power keeps flickering in and out so we'll see (my laptop battery is dying so I can't just keep going when it goes out :-(

I'm so glad I bought DS1 a pair of snowpants! This is our 5th or 6th snow of the year - normal for here is more like 1 snowstorm with 3 - 6 inches if we get lucky. DS2 is wearing the snowpants DS1 probably wore about 3 times total - and he's probably worn them 4 or 5 times already this winter.

Can I join? My name is Samantha and I've read your threads before and actually want to participate now My
DS1's birthday is May 15th 2006 he is a little over 3.5, I'm just looking for mamas to talk to about these wonderful 3yr old issues!

Tomorrow DH goes back to work and I'll be left alone with the two. Yikes! Am a little nervous. DH will take DS to school (drop-off is harder; I can't manage it yet physically) and I'll pick him up at lunch time. Right now I'm really glad his school is the public one two minutes away, and not the private one that requires a bus ride!

I'm feeling physically pretty good. Getting a fair amount of sleep, too, all things considered. This baby sleeps so much more than DS1 ever has!

Mary, GL w/your first solo day. You'll do great. Just don't push yourself too hard mama. That c-section needs time to heal. I had an emergcy c- w/my firstborn and I was totally unprepared for it & the recovery. Do what's most important & let all the other stuff go.

And thanks for asking about how I'm doing Mary & all of you wonderful May Mamas. I appreciate the support. No one else but dh knows about what is going on. (I'm the kind of person who wouldn't tell anyone until I know for sure. No sense worrying everyone.) I go back for more mamagram testing Wed. am. & then most likely an ultrasound. From the research I've been doing & what the tech showed me on the films, it really does look like a cyst. That is what I am hoping & praying for. It seemed perfectly round, and cancerous growths are usually misshaped. I am coping w/the stress by staying super busy - taking care of the kids & house, knitting. But it's always there, ya know?, this nagging worry. It's going to be a long few days.

We are having a lazy Sunday. A good friend is visiting for the weekend and we all just came in from as much time outside as we could stand in the frigid wind. Phoebe didn't mind the cold much, though (She *was* the only one wearing a down snowsuit, after all). She was pretending to be a chipmunk and kept finding funny places to pretend to be her nest. Eventually dh directed her to the cozy warm nest inside where chipmunks love to sleep in the winter and now she's upstairs napping.

I made the mistake of wearing the baby in the wrap to walk over and pick up DS1 from school. BAD idea. My incision really hurt and it wiped me out for the rest of the day. By the time DH got home I was sobbing in the kitchen while making dinner. Just feeling sorry for myself. In the US we would have had friends bringing us meals, in Lebanon we would have had family underfoot constantly, and here we're totally alone. My ILs are with my SIL who had twins in mid-January (and she clearly needs more help than I do) but as DH said, we still could use some help. Sigh. I'm focusing on all our blessings, but it was a little tough last night...

Ecoteat, Phoebe is so cute! I love the chipmunk thing! It snowed a bit here today, DS1 was thrilled!

Max, keeping you in my thoughts. It sounds like there's a good chance it's nothing serious, that's great news.

max - I hope it turns out to be just a cyst. I have had one in my breast for several years - it still freaks me out a bit (especially when I can *feel* the milk going around it when nursing *shudder*). I'm thinking of having mine biopsied eventually just to make sure, but I don't have any insurance right now so that option is WAY too expensive. BTW - I was told to get few mammograms and stick with having it ultrasounded "just in case". I'm sending lots of positive vibes your way. How is your hubby's back doing? DH has degenerating disc disease, so we have been dealing with his back pain for over 12 years now. I have some therapies (and thoughts on different medications) that might be helpful if you are interested in them. Let me know..

We enjoyed the snow that we got, but this last storm today only brought us a dusting. Oh well! I'm sure it will be a blizzard by the time it reaches all you East Coasters!

Not too much other news here. Just trying to spend more time on organizing the house, and trying to figure out where my ennui about paying bills, organizing, and selling stuff is coming from. Bleh. I just haven't felt very motivated lately, and it is exceedingly frustrating!

Mary - I totally wish we were all closer to help each other out! Must revisit that commune idea

Blue Lotus, thanks for sharing your story about your cyst. It's helpful to hear. And YES, I would be very interested to hear about any therapies and/or meds that helped your dh. Mine is doing marginally better, but remains in constant pain. It's really tough to see. Feel free to PM me.

I am making hot & sour soup in the crockpot today. It is soooo good, I couldn't wait until dinner & just had a bowl. I'm also going to experiement w/some vegetable fried rice. If anyone wants the recipe, I'm happy to share.

Mary--make sure you take it pretty easy for at least 6 weeks after. By then the incision should have healed up properly (I've had 2 c-sections). Does your DH cook? We ate a lot of take-out after ds2 was born (but I also had friends who brought meals for me--I wish I could bring you some homemade chicken noodle soup!).

I finally got our laundry done--whew! It's been a week of bitterly cold weather...as we ran out of clean clothes. Yuck. I went to get water yesterday too, and I swear it took me 4x longer to pump the water. Plus it was all frozen solid when I got home, always a chore to get it up into the house. I'm always afraid the front porch (which is rotting) is going to collapse if I set a water jug down on it. We have those big camping water containers, about 10 6-gallon ones that last us 3 wks while dp is gone--2 if it's summer, but we go to the Fox spring then and the water is free there! I miss summer! Just 2.5 months to go! Then sayonara to icy roads and hell-o, tourist season!

I'm in bed with a pounding headache and feeling vaguely like I might throw up. DH and Phoebe are downstairs playing and cleaning up dinner. I should be making sub plans in case this isn't just some weird flukey feeling and I actually end up sick tomorrow. But I don't know what my kids should do in class--it's the last day of my regular classes before a vacation week (our schedule is really different on Fridays) and my brain is mush anyway. It would be a perfect movie day if there were any at my school that were worth watching. We have a terrible collection of science films.

I went sledding yesterday with DH, and all three kids & some friends of DH's. It was awesome to go down the hill - I did it twice before getting tired of climbing back up !
Then DD freaked out for unknown reasons (she didn't seem cold or anything but . . . she has been teething pretty hard this week.) So we walked back to the car while the boys did some snowboarding. DS2 was apparently a natural!

DH's seasonal work starts back up again in earnest in the next couple of weeks. I'll be glad of the income but boy, it's been nice having him around this week - he couldn't work at all because everything was closed.

Mamab--it's been in the 20s/30s here for the past few days. Sledding is a great idea! Unfortunately, Orion has been all "I hate going outside" and "snow is yucky". I guess we need to get out more!

Amy--Hope you feel better soon.

BlueLotus--I feel ya. I don't have any motivation lately either.

Mary--Seriously, try to take it easy as much as possible. C-sections suck like that.

Well, not much going on here. My sinuses are getting revenge on me or something like that. Also, ds2 just threw up milky all over the bed. But he seems fine. Gotta get some major cleaning done before DP gets home from the Slope on Monday! Hope everyone has a great holiday! PSA, if you have a Bruegger's near you, they are gonna have heart-shaped bagels.

That cold I had brewing apparently never took hold, because I felt a little funky the next day and then perfectly fine after that. I'm on school break right now (yippee!) and it's off to a great start. Last night my friend hosted a ladies' sauna and potluck, which was fabulous. This afternoon our friend's daughter had a party for her 7th birthday and it was perfect. They have a pond which is frozen over and a nice little sledding hill that slopes right onto the pond, so there was lots of ice skating and sledding. It was Phoebe's first time sledding and the LOVED it. It was sunny and in the upper 30s so it was a perfect day to be outside and everyone had a blast. I haven't been sledding in ages and I had so much fun! We are going out for sushi tonight (Phoebe's idea!) and tomorrow we are having friends over for dinner.

ETA: I forgot I wanted to mention that Phoebe's starting to read! (I don't think I've told you all about this, but if I have, forgive me!) We were out last week and she saw an OPEN sign in a window. She said "it has some letters that are in Phoebe!" (She does that all the time. She loves especially spotting words that start with PH.) Then she started sounding it out--"O...O..O.PEN! It says open!" I said "Wow! You just read that word all by yourself!" and she said, "yeah, but I can't read whole books yet." Then the other day she read dog and mama. When we are in the car together she spends the whole time asking me to spell things and then making silly songs and rhymes with words that start the same or end the same. She's also trying to write her name. Her fine motor skills have always seemed to lag a little, but I think it's starting to come together. Her "P" looks like a lollipop with a tiny candy on the stick. It's really cute.

Happy Valentine's Day Eve everyone! We had an early celebration today. Dh & ds came home w/chocolates and flowers for everyone. It was so sweet. The girls loved getting their own flowers. So then I broke out my gifts for the family - candies and a fondue cooking set. I told the kids, "This may seem strange, but you are going to really like it." Then we made a cheese fondue for dinner w/a chocolate fondue for dessert. And yes indeed, they all loved it. It was lots of fun.

Amy, that is so cool about Phoebe reading! That must be really exciting to see. I saw your thread about kids who have already achieved their kindergarten readiness goals, and I certainly think she fits that category!!!

Alaskaberry, I hope your sinuses feel better soon. I get that too. No fun. Heart shaped bagels - too cute. I wish we had some around here. My kids would love that.

Mamabeakley, your sledding trip sounds like it was lots of fun. Ds snow boarding is impressive!

Blue Lotus, good luck with all your organizing. I find it tough to get motivated in the cold bleak weather too.

Mary, how are you mama friend? I hope you are gets as much rest as possible. And please tell us more about your new baby. I'd love to hear all about him. How does ds like having a new brother?

Sydnee, hey stranger! Where've ya been? We miss you around here. What kinds of fun Valentines things do you have planned for the girls?

Max, thanks for asking. We're doing ok, baby is sooooo relaxed and easy compared to DS1! He takes long naps, he sleeps on his back, he sleeps a lot more than DS1 ever did! When he's awake, he has about 5-10 minutes of being very alert, calm looking around before he melts down and wants to nurse. He looks very different-- he's very fair, with blondish hair and blue eyes, whereas DS1 has his dad's coloring.

He's so sweet, and when someone else holds him (besides DH) he looks for me. I feel like we're starting to bond-- definitely didn't happen right away. In fact, the first 2 days or so I felt so sick and awful and wiped out I felt absolutely nothing about the baby. Even when he was crying. So we've come a long way in 2 weeks.

Other than that, today is DH and my 7th wedding anniversary! I doubt we'll do much to celebrate, but I do have a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

I haven't been on much because my internet connection has been very spotty, sucks, lol! We are all good, knock on wood but we haven't had any of the nasty stomach/flu bugs here yet. If we're going to get it, I hope it happens soon because we leave for Mexico in 19 DAYS!!!!!

Max- YAY on the test results!! What a huuuuge relief that must be for you! I remember when we were waiting last year about this time for my Mom's test results for the same thing, very nerve wracking!

Marylizah- I'm so glad things are going better for you, make sure to REST! And also remember that it's ok to feel all sorts of emotions at this time

Mamabeakley- How fun to go sledding! We have a small hill on the side of our house that is perfect for sledding, and my oh my, what a workout it can be, lol!!

ecoteat- I'm glad you're feeling better! Isn't it amazing what they learn?! Alayna can write her name and can recognize most letters, but she just cannot grasp learning numbers, lol! We play a card game call Garbage that we thought would help her learn them, but so far it hasn't!!

Alaskaberry- We have about the same temps here, but lots of snow and wind! Hope you guys are feeling better too!

Blue Lotus- Sending you some motivation!! Husg to you!

Samantha- WELCOME!!!

Well, must scoot, I need to finish my daycare kids' Valentine cups, as we are celebrating today. We had heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, heart shaped cheese for snack, heart shaped pizza for lunch, and V-Day cupcakes for afternoon snack! I love Valentines Day! We didn't do anything special yesterday, except cleaned out our 4th level (which is unfinished, and the holding spot for any and everything that doens't belong elsewhere, lol!). We made half the room a storage room, and the other half we laid carpeting (extra stuff we had on hand) and I put all my craft/scrapbooking supplies down there. Now all my stuff is in ONE spot!! I cannot belive how awesome I feel having that done, it has been a depresser for me for about 10 years, lol!

Hope everyone is doing well. We're on Feb. vacation here, trying to keep everyone busy & happy. Dh is meeting w/a surgeom about his back on Friday. Surgery is pretty scary, but right now seems to be his only hope. He is in excruciating pain 24/7, the poor guy. He is such a trooper too. Still working as much as he can, trying to help out w/the kids wherever he can. I am now needing to do all the things that were always his responsibility - shoveling snow, taking the trash, laundry, etc. - along w/all my own stuff. Phew! It's a lot, and gets overwhelming. But I am trying to stay as positive & supportive as I can.

Bless your heart, Max! I feel your pain, although not even close to what you're going through. DH has been having stomach issues for about 4 months now, he has had any and every test done, with no answers. So he basically feels sick 24/7. It sucks because he is the positive, easy going one in the family, so when he is down and out, it affects all of us. Thankfully he does have good days too, so it's not like this ALL the time, lol.

I am 100% in Spring cleaning mode! I have my list of what needs to be done in every room of the house so I can do a little bit everyday. Brad and I completely cleaned out our 4th level, which is unfinished. It is basically our "junk room", so we went through every box and put everything into labeled bins, made half the room a storage area, and the other half my craft area. We had some leftover carpet that we laid down, and hooked up an old TV in there too. It's SO nice to finally have that room organized, this is stuff that we have accumulated in our almost 12 years of marriage!! Yikes!! Along with junk came some mice too, ugh We have caught 5 in the last few weeks, DH thinks that a pregnant mouse got in and had her babies, as 4 of them were small, but one was fairly large. I am sooooo not used to this, being a city girl that has never had a mouse in the house before!

Ai! I fell and at least sprained my ankle yesterday. DD was in her mei tei wrap at the time and was totally fine. She didn't even cry (I did). I was in a parking garage and two very sweet men helped me get up, walked me to my car, gave me $2 to make sure I could get out of the cash-only garage (I had enough for 1 hour but thought I was over it because of the fall). Then I had to drive an hour to get home (and this is my right ankle, of course). Thankfully, the boys were NOT with us, and thankfully, DH was home by the time we got home. I don't think I could have made it into the house at that point, definitely not with DD. I am home alone w/all three kids today which is going . . . okay . . . so far. I have my ankle splinted and wrapped so I can hobble with a stick to the bathroom, etc., and DS1 is almost 6 and quite capable of moving DD around, fetching me things, etc. Only 5 more hours to go till DH gets home!

I am trying to decide whether to go to urgent care this afternoon and get an x-ray. We have health ins but it's a high-deductible plan so it will cost us if I do. And, as long as I don't move, it doesn't feel too bad. But . . . I guess I will see how I'm feeling by this afternoon.

Mamabeakley, I'm so sorry! DH broke his foot a few months ago and he was miserable until he got one of these. He hated wearing it, but it made a world of difference--he was able to go about his regular day for the most part without excrutiating pain. Do you have something like that? Or a cast or something? It sounds like a splint isn't going to cut it, is it?

Max, how did the party go? We were at a party with sledding last week and it was SO much fun. Do you even have enough snow? Or did you get some with the storm last week that was supposed to give us 8 inches and ended up missing Maine almost entirely? (I was really disappointed. We are mostly melted. The ground is soft and is starting to smell like earth again. This isn't supposed to happen for at least another month! ) How was yout dh's visit with the surgeon?

Sydnee, I know how nice it is to have a crafty space of your own--enjoy it! I find the hardest part is keeping it tidy since I don't use it that often. So piles of clothes and toys that need mending, works-in-progress, random bits of fabric, paper, ribbon, etc, end up all over my table and chair. The whole idea is to have a space ready to go when the crafty urge hits!

I'm looking at a late night (again!) since I am not at all ready to go back to school Monday after a week off. I know I'll pull it off, but I'm kicking myself for not pacing out the work I needed to do this week.